Hopefully my image selection doesn’t show by bias. But seriously, I don’t think either is “better” - they approached it two different ways.
Data got the emotion chip, but had to learn how to use them. We saw that all on-screen.
Android got the emotion chip upgrade (which also seemed to come with the requisite control software) and was able to hit the ground running.
They really were quite different.
Data never had emotions. He tried to understand and fake them as he could, but without feeling it, could never get there.
Android on the other hand had emotions, just not the human like mannerisms to fully express them.
So when they got their modifications, their reactions were quite different. Data finally experienced the emotions he was always chasing for. While Android was finally able to fully express what she always felt.
They’re both interesting stories. I guess I enjoyed Android’s more. Data became kind of annoying until he got the hang of things.
That’s a good way to differentiate their capacities for emotion: Android could experience but not express, while Data could express but not experience. Their respective chips allowed them to do both.
Seconded, exactly this.